In cryptography, perfect forward secrecy is a desired property for secure communications between parties. Perfect forward secrecy is present in a system if the compromise of a data set (such as a key) used to de-encrypt an intercepted communication at a future time does not also result in the ability to de-encrypt previously saved intercepted past communications. Prior art attempts to implement perfect forward secrecy have relied upon asymmetrical cryptography in which the de-encryption relies upon each of the parties possessing a public key (a data set known by both parties) and a private key (a data set only known to one party). Unfortunately, these systems often require the unwanted trade-off of inadequate security capabilities versus onerous computational costs. As a result, there is clear utility in and benefit from, novel methods and apparatuses for securely and efficiently implementing perfect forward secrecy.
For the purposes of this disclosure, like reference numerals in the figures shall refer to like features unless otherwise indicated. The drawings are only an exemplification of the principles of the invention and are not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular embodiments illustrated.